Chances of war with Iran are rising. And Donald Trump is to blame

[nitpicker]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/09/donald-trump-iran-nuclear-deal-blame

Chances of war with Iran are rising. And Donald Trump is to blame

Michael H Fuchs

Thu 9 May 2019 11.00 BST

Donald Trump is doing everything possible to provoke a conflict with Iran while making it look like Iran’s fault.

A year ago, Trump withdrew the United States from the deal that has successfully stopped Iran from getting nuclear weapons – despite the IAEA and even the Trump administration confirming Iran was abiding by the agreement. The day Trump took the United States out of the deal, he lit the fuse of a potential crisis.

Ever since, Trump has been blowing on the fuse, trying to speed things up. The United States imposed sanctions on Iranian banks and shipping companies, attempting to squeeze the Iranian economy. Recently, the Trump administration announced it would no longer grant waivers for the sanctions to some America’s closest partners, including South Korea and Japan.
(snip)

Time, however, may now be up. In recent days, the United States has significantly ratcheted up what had already been red-hot rhetoric on Iran. In sending a carrier strike group and bomber task force to the region, John Bolton, the national security adviser, said: “The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack.”

The deployment was supposedly in response to what Bolton described as “a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings”, and Mike Pompeo, the secretary of state, made an urgent trip to Iraq to address the possibility of Iranian attacks. However, one US official described the administration’s response as “overreacting”.

(snip)
Most concerning is the potential for a war. Bolton and Pompeo sometimes act like they are itching for a fight, and US actions over the last year have significantly raised the chances for a miscalculation that spirals into conflict. While it might not seem like Trump wants war, he is so inept and ideological on Iran it’s not difficult to see him stumbling into a conflict. And despite Americans’ dissatisfaction with US reliance on the military to solve problems, the fact that 71% of Americans view Iran as an enemy could grease the skids of conflict.

The encouragement on Iran that Trump receives from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Israel isn’t helping. One can easily see a resurgence of Israeli threats of military strikes against Iran – only this time, as former Obama defense department official Colin Kahl puts it: “The US administration is much more likely to encourage Israeli strikes rather than seek to constrain them.”

Trump’s actions have now empowered hardliners in Iran, making a diplomatic outcome less likely. Iranian president Hassan Rouhani stuck his neck out to negotiate the nuclear deal, and the US withdrawal has damaged supporters of the deal in Iran. New sanctions have allowed the Iranian regime to more credibly blame the United States for the current economic woes. All of this makes Iran more prone to aggression, not capitulation.

It is easy to see through the Trump administration’s lies. Trump claims to want to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon but withdrew from the very deal that had stopped Iran from obtaining one. Trump officials claim to be supporting the aspirations of the Iranian people, but the sanctions hurt the Iranian people first and foremost, and Trump is still banning average Iranians from visiting the United States.
(snip)

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Here's another reason why Iran is so tempting to Trump:

to "correct" the humiliation Iran "inflicted" upon the U.S. in 1979 when the citizens took back their country from the Shah, captured the United States' embassy, and held U.S. citizens hostage for 400+ days. Trump wants to correct history and install another U.S. approved dictator who will give access to Iranian oil.

[Submariner]

2. If Trump attacks Iran

I would suspect he will be handing his children a death sentence. After an invasion of Iran, I would not want to be Ivanka/Jared or Donny Jr. traveling anywhere outside the U.S. in the next decade or so.

[Crowman2009]

3. My advice to all the young people out there is..

.... DON'T ENLIST!